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Lindsey Tyre

English Composition 1201

Professor Tim Waggoner

July 16, 2020

To Become a CRNA

Choosing the right career path can be difficult. Almost everyone has been asked what

they wanted to be when they grew up as a kid. Maybe you had no idea or maybe you were

determined to become a firefighter or astronaut, but then it didn’t really matter. However, when

you get to your last few years of high school this question takes on a whole new meaning. It

could mean stress over an undecided major or panic over a potentially life changing decision or

maybe even excitement about going to a dream college. No matter how you are feeling about the

near future, a career pathway or major is a topic that requires a lot of thought. For me, the dream

is to go into the medical field, but I’m still not sure what it is I want to do in the medical field. A

certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA) is a career I have been considering because I

believe it's suitable to my personality, educational interest, and want for a flexible, high-salary

job.

Many people have come into contact with a certified registered nurse anesthetist and

don’t even know it. If you have ever gone through some kind of surgery or even gotten your

wisdom teeth out you have probably had one help you. Nurse anesthetists are providing pain

relieving medicine called anesthesia in order to help doctors and physicians or efficiently carry

out their surgeries. They also allow the patient to have less stress going into the surgery and less

pain throughout the surgery. CRNAs do many things which include: managing pain relief,
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assisting doctors with the administration of anesthesia, ensuring positive patient recovery, giving

epidurals for vertebrae blocks, supplying care during anesthesia, being knowledgeable of the

patient’s medical history to guarantee anesthesia is administered with safety, discussing potential

side-effects of the anesthesia with patients, and watching the vital signs of the patient during

surgery(​Western Governors University).

Nurse anesthetists are often confused with anesthesiologists. While the two careers have

very similar duties and conditions, they do have many characteristics that set them apart. In order

to become an anesthesiologist you must attend medical school because anesthesiologists are

doctors who choose to focus on the giving and practice of anesthesia(Western Governors

University). On the other hand, nurse anesthetists get a graduate degree in order to do their

practice and normally work under a physician or doctor. This means they have less student loans

and schooling than anesthesiologists. So even though anesthesiologists do receive a higher salary

with about a 100,000 dollar difference, there is still a lower demand for an anesthesiologist and

more college debts. While there are many benefits to being an anesthesiologist, a CRNA is a

better fit for my career goals and wishes.

Nurse anesthetists were first introduced in the American Civil War when nurses

administered anesthesia to fallen soldiers on the battlefield. Being the first to specialize in

anesthesia they were committed to easing the pain of injured who would require surgery or other

painful treatments. Alice Magaw then expanded the practice by establishing many procedures of

anesthesia including chloroform and the drip mask method. Her many contributions to the early

study of Anesthesiology gave her the name “Mother of Anesthesia”(Mazurek). Since then, many
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new discoveries and innovations have been made in the field and CRNAs have become more

prominent and experienced in the many methods and procedures used for giving anesthesia.

Nurse anesthetists are now valuable members of a healthcare team with over 41,800

potential jobs all over the country (“Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse

Practitioners”). Anyone considering becoming a CRNA needs to be able to multitask, adapt to

change, be flexible, and work well in risky high pressure situations. The healthcare field is

constantly changing. With new research and ideas about better ways to do things in your field

you need to be able to adjust and learn these things. Also, as a CRNA you could be put in a

position where you have to quickly decide what medicine is best for a patient that might be going

into an urgent, unplanned surgery. You can’t just crack underneath the pressure because it could

cost someone their life or a lot of pain. You must also have good communication skills, because

they allow you to effectively carry out procedures as part of a medical team and help your

patient. And lastly, CRNAs must be detail oriented and have good critical-thinking skills. This is

because CRNAs are required to access a patient and their condition in order to determine the

proper medicine type and amount.

In addition, a nurse anesthetist can work in many different settings like a hospital, dental

office, or even a plastic surgery center. They need to be able to deal with a negative and positive

work environment. For example, they could have difficult patients that lead to a nurse anesthetist

to feel emotionally drained or it could be a very rewarding job when successful providing relief

to a woman in childbirth. The work environment of a CRNA can be very dangerous. There are

many potential threats like being exposed to violence, contagious pathogens, and harmful

chemicals. A CRNA can also find themselves constantly on their feet when faced with long or
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unplanned surgeries. However, one of the bonuses of this career is comfortable work attire

despite the rather hectic environment. CRNAs are normally dressed in scrubs with comfortable

shoes (Boyd).

If you are able to meet the many demands and qualities of a CRNA, how do you become

one? According to Wickenhagen, CRNAs have the highest level of education for a nurse

practitioner. This is because nurse anesthetists are taught to provide services to patients of all

ages in any medical setting in any part of the country (Wickenhagen). However, there are many

different options for degrees for this career. According to a group of registered nurses the best

pathway is the following. Nurse anesthetists are required first to obtain a Bachelor’s degree in

Nursing. Then you must pass the nursing licensure exam called the NCLEX-RN. After the

NCLEX, you are then supposed to gain experience at a medical setting, however the time frame

of needed experience varies on which school you go to. For the most part, the minimum is a year

of experience as a registered nurse. After that, you go on to specialize in anesthesia with a

minimum of a Master’s degree. There are “currently 121 accredited nurse anesthesia programs in

the US and Puerto Rico”(RegisteredNursing.org Staff). Completion of one of these programs can

take about 2-4 years.

After you have completed an accredited anesthetist program, you must get certified. One

way to do this is to take the exam provided by ​the National Board of Certification &

Recertification of Nurse Anesthetists (NBCRNA). To take this exam you must have an active

registered nurse license, a graduate degree in an nurse anesthetist program, and a record of all

your experience both clinical and academic. Certified registered nurse anesthetists must retake

the exam every 4 years in order to regain certification to continue practicing (​Nurse Anesthetists,
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Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners​).Even after you get your certification, you still have to

get a license before you can get a job anywhere. You may be wondering, how is being certified

and licensed different? Well, certification allows you to practice in a healthcare setting, while

license permits you to work in the specific state of residence. ​This all takes 7 to 8.5 years to

finish all the necessary requirements and courses to become a CRNA.

Once you have completed all of the things necessary to become a CRNA, what is your

job outlook? Nurse anesthetists can find a job pretty much anywhere. This allows a lot of

freedom when it comes to finding a place to live. Finding a job as a CRNA isn’t hard at all

because it is a job that is in rather high demand. The request for certified registered nurse

anesthetists is ​inferred to increase by 26% in the next 10 years, this is quicker than most typical

job growth.There is currently a lack of nurses around the United States. This means nurses who

have to go through a lot of training like CRNAs are hard to come by. (Western Governors

University). This makes it easy to do the career that you want anywhere you want. Although,

“the states with the highest level of employment for CRNAs are: Texas, Ohio, North Carolina,

Pennsylvania, and Florida”(​RegisteredNursing.org Staff).

In addition, job availability isn’t the only perk of being a certified registered nurse

anesthetist. Being a CRNA is a very difficult, stressful job but it can be very gratifying because

of it. Nurse anesthetists are the highest paid specialized nurses with a salary of about $165,120.

This is a result of the many stills and information certified registered nurse anesthetists are

required to know to succeed as this type of nurse. Nurse anesthetists are accountable for the

safety of their patient during stressful procedures or surgeries, and their role in managing pain

relief is important in the successful recovery of the patient.(Western Governors University).​ As

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the table shows down below, nurse anesthetists surpass the salary of both nurse practitioners and

midwives by over 50,000 dollars more a year. Even so, salary can vary based on location of

residency, employment organization, and years of experience, so you could be making even

more than that. “The top-paying states for CRNAs are:Montana, Wyoming, California, Oregon,

and Nevada”(RegisteredNursing.org Staff).

“Median annual wages for nurse anesthetists, nurse midwives, and nurse practitioners in May

2017 were as follows:

Nurse anesthetists $165,120

Nurse practitioners $103,880

Nurse midwives $100,590

“(​Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners​).

Furthermore, some argue that it is better to stop at a registered nurse than do the extra

years of schooling to become a nurse anesthetist. This is mainly because of the student loans that

come with going through more schooling. CRNAs can rank up almost 200,000 dollars in loans

freshly out of college. Most of this is due to the fact that students can’t afford to work during

college because of the time consuming and laborious classes. While this is a very good
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argument, CRNAs also earn more money than a registered nurse to pay back the debt with and

you miss out on a lot of other benefits. For example, I enjoy watching the surgeries but don’t

want to be as high risk as the surgeons. Being a nurse anesthetist allows me to watch surgeries

without that risk, an opportunity a registered nurse might not get. CRNAs also get out of a lot of

the dirty work that registered nurses have to do like giving sponge baths and worrying about

patients receiving food.

So what exactly does a nurse anesthetist do on an average day at work? CRNAs work on

many different surgeries everyday and a lot of work goes into each one. For every surgery, “​they

thoroughly review a patient’s medical history before a procedure to determine which method of

anesthesia will be the best and most effective for the patient. During the procedure, they

administer the chosen anesthesia, then carefully monitor its level and speed and pay close

attention to the patient’s vital signs, in case adjustments are necessary. After the procedure,

CRNAs oversee the patient’s recovery from the anesthesia, helping to monitor and ease side

effects like nausea, vomiting, and grogginess”(​eCareers​).​ This is exactly why I mentioned that

certified registered nurse anesthetists should be detail-oriented, compassionate, and have good

critical thinking skills. You may be surprised how much thought goes into putting someone to

sleep for a surgery.

In conclusion, all of this information must be considered in order to successfully become

a nurse anesthetist. I have been able to research a career that I think fits my personality, wants,

and goals to help me consider a career that could be a possibility. Being a CRNA can have many

pros and cons that one must take into account when considering it as a career. These different

sources provide valuable viewpoints and information to carefully evaluate what a future as a
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nurse anesthetist would require and entail. While it can be a very stressful and emotionally

draining career path, it can also prove to be a very rewarding and fulfilling occupation.
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Works Cited

Boyd, Donald.“Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist Working Conditions and Outcomes: A

Review of the Literature.” ​AANA Journal,​ vol. 85, no. 4, Aug. 2017, pp. 261–269.

EBSCOhost​,search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=124667334&site

=eds-live.

eCareers, Health. ​5 Reasons Being a CRNA Rocks,​ 16 Aug. 2016,

www.healthecareers.com/ddw/article/career/crna-salary-education.

Mazurek, Matthew. “CRNAs: A Short History of Nurse Anesthesia and the Future of Anesthesia

Care.” ​LinkedIn,​

www.linkedin.com/pulse/crnas-short-history-nurse-anesthesia-future-care-matthew-mazur

ek-md.

"Nurse Anesthetists, Nurse Midwives, and Nurse Practitioners." ​Occupational Outlook

Handbook,​ U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, Bureau of Labor

Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, 1st edition, 2018. ​Credo Reference,​

http://sinclair.ohionet.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/blsocc

upation/nurse_anesthetists_nurse_midwives_and_nurse_practitioners/0?institutionId=6043

. Accessed 12 Jul. 2020.

Western Governors University. “Nurse Anesthetist vs. Anesthesiologist.” ​Western Governors

University​, Western Governors University, 21 Apr. 2020,

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www.wgu.edu/blog/nurse-anesthetist-vs-anesthesiologist2003.html.

Wickenhagen, Sarah. “APRN ROLE FOCUS: Spotlight on Certified Registered Nurse

Anesthetists (CRNA).” ​Oregon State Board of Nursing Sentinel,​ vol. 34, no. 1, Mar. 2015,

p. 15. ​EBSCOhost​,

Writers, RegisteredNursing.org Staff. “How to Become a Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA).”

Registered Nursing.org,​ RegisteredNursing.org, 30 Apr. 2020,

www.registerednursing.org/nurse-anesthetist/.